


At First I was Afraid, I was Petrified

by asofthesea



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Angst, Explosions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Mind Control, Mind Manipulation, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Vampire Diaries References, if anybody catches it, let me know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21911533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthesea/pseuds/asofthesea
Summary: Before he can tell Tony what he needs to do, his spider-sense flares. He has jumped on the ceiling before he had even processed the threat. Tony. Tony is the threat. Tony had just tried to shoot him with a repulsor blast from wristwatch gauntlet.Prompt: mind controlled tony
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 93
Collections: Iron Dad Secret Santa 2019





	At First I was Afraid, I was Petrified

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hold_our_destiny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hold_our_destiny/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy you gift!

The night had started so normally, but nothing nice ever lasts.

“Should we watch _Brooklyn Nine-Nine_ or _Parks and Rec_? It's your turn to pick.” Peter asks as he sits down beside his mentor on the couch, a bowl of fresh popcorn in his hand.

It was his weekend to spend at the compound, and they had finished their project in the lab. School was starting soon, and Tony had said Peter deserved a break before junior year. It was supposedly going to be his most stressful year of school, and Peter had a feeling that was true.

Not only was he taking harder classes, but he had to start thinking about colleges. He should probably rejoin band, that always looked good on the resume, or so he was told. All of those loud instruments were too much for him to process at once. Tony had been working on something to help him deal with it, but they hadn’t been successful so far.

“Since it’s my turn to pick, we’re watching _How I Met Your Mother_ ,” Tony replied, taking a handful of popcorn with a smirk on his face.

Peter pulls the bowl to his other side so Tony can’t reach, “That wasn’t one of the options.”

Tony’s smirk only grows, “You said it yourself, Pete, it’s my turn to pick. _How I Met Your Mother_ is my choice, and there isn’t anything you can do about it.”

“Oh yeah?” Peter challenges.

“Yeah,” Tony replies, confidently.

Peter snatched the remote out of Tony’s hand.

“Kid, you know that FRIDAY runs this whole show, and she’ll do whatever it is I ask of her, right?”

“Oh, you’re no fun,” Peter complains.

Peter tosses the remote to Tony, who catches it swiftly, “Giving up so soon? I’m embarrassed for you.”

As soon as he opens his mouth, his retort dies on his tongue. Peter straightens up instantly, “Something’s wrong.”

Tony knows to never second-guess Peter’s instincts. He stands and calls for his suit. Whatever is about to happen, he needs to be ready for the mysterious threat. He glances around the room, not seeing anything out of place.

He doesn’t know why, but he looks up and sees a blinking. A little red light, blinking faster. His hands grab Peter’s shoulders as he uses his momentum to throw them both over the back of the couch. They don’t have time to get anywhere safe, so Tony covers Peter’s body with his own, as he waits for the explosion.

Sound isn’t really what returns first. All he can hear is a high-pitched ringing sound. He manages to pry his eyes open to see a hole in the ceiling of the compound. _Shit_. His spider-sense was going crazy. He couldn’t place the threat, then Mr. Stark was on top of him with a scared look on his face.

_Mr. Stark._

Everything else returns to him in a flash. He can hear his mentor’s barely audible breaths. He’s okay. If he’s okay, then Peter’s okay. While his mentor is out cold, he needs to formulate a plan.

He checks Tony over for injuries, and besides cuts and bruises, nothing seems to seem too serious. He figures it’s okay to move his mentor as he slowly maneuvers them so he’s standing with Tony in his arms.

They can’t stay here, that much is clear. Someone obviously planted a bomb in the compound. Peter has no idea how they got past security, but he can’t dwell on that now. He needs to get somewhere safe, but he doesn’t know where safe is.

People could be storming the compound now, but Peter would have no clue. He doesn’t know where to go. He doesn’t have a secret safe hideout. The compound was supposed to be a secret safe hideout.

Tony always has a back-up plan. He thinks of every possible contingency. He would know what to do. Peter needs to wake Tony up.

Peter walks over with his mentor still in his arms, and nudges open the door to the stairwell with his foot. He listens intently for a few moments before deciding it is most likely empty and begins making his way down the stairs.

His spider-sense had lulled to a dull reminder in the back of his skull, letting him know that he’s not quite in the clear yet.

He has only used the stairwell once, when Tony was showing him around, wanting him to know the full layout of the compound with all the exits. Peter had thought it was really stupid at the time, and couldn’t stop complaining. He can’t help but be grateful that Tony had shown him, or he wouldn’t know what door to take to get to where he needs to be.

Tony was always thinking of every contingency, and that’s what Peter needs to do until he can wake up Tony. The elevators didn’t seem to be a safe choice since FRIDAY could be compromised. Someone already made their way past her security systems to place that bomb in the compound.

Once he finally makes it to Medbay, he sets Tony down on the nearest bed. He had given the man a quick once over earlier, but now he has a chance to assess him. Tony’s worst injury seems to be his head wound.

Peter moves his hands to Tony’s face to examine it before he notices something on Tony’s neck. He kneels next to the bed to get a closer look. It looks like a small piece of metal. It is only the size of a grain of rice, but it must have lodged itself in Tony’s neck during the explosion.

Although that doesn’t make sense since Tony had his back to the bomb, and any debris would have hit his backside, not the front of his neck. Peter’s hand lifts to touch it, it seems wrong.

As his hand touches the cool metal, Tony snaps awake.

He looks around the room, confused, until his eyes finally find Peter’s.

“Mr. Stark, I am so glad that you are finally awake! There was the explosion, remember? Then I carried you here because I thought you might need medical treatment, plus I’m not really sure where we should go. I haven’t seen anybody, but somebody obviously wants something from us,” Peter rambles, “Well, they likely want something from you and I just sort of happened to be-”

“Do you ever shut up?”

Peter snaps his mouth shut. Usually, Tony will let him ramble with only a little bit of teasing, especially when he’s nervous. Tony’s raised his voice at Peter and scolded him before when he puts himself or others in danger, but he never snapped at him like this.

“Sorry,” Peter mumbles, “just trying to catch you up to speed.”

Tony shakes his head, “No, I’m sorry, kid. I don’t know why I said that. I think I’m just a little out of it still. You said you haven’t seen anyone yet?”

Peter nods his head in confirmation, “FRIDAY hasn’t made an appearance, either.”

Tony’s eyebrows draw together, “I don’t get why someone would plant a bomb meant for taking us out and not come back to check and see if their plan worked. We’re both fine, for the most part, so why haven’t they came to finish what they started?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Stark, but we need to get somewhere safe. Where should we go?” Peter asks. As curious as he is, they don’t have time to dwell on these questions.

“I don’t know where is safe for us, Peter! That’s why we need to figure out what the threat is!” Tony yells.

Peter swallows and says, “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

Instead of apologizing again, Tony stands up and exclaims, “Of course I’m right! That’s why you need to listen to me! I know that it is a very hard thing for you to do, but I need you to work with me on this one, Peter.”

“Of course, Mr. Stark,” Peter says. _Tony is just stressed_ , he tells himself, _he’s just trying to figure out a way to get us both out alive, he isn’t really mad at me_. Peter takes a deep breath and attempts to clear his head to think out the solution. If Mr. Stark wants his cooperation, then he’ll give it.

Tony begins to pace, “It just doesn’t make sense. Are they waiting outside? Did something go wrong in their plan? Who even was it that attacked us? What do they want?”

Before Peter has a chance to respond, the lights flicker.

“What I want is simple,” comes FRIDAY’s voice, “I want you to hate yourself, the way I do. I want you to get up every day and know what you did.”

“Who is this?” Tony demands.

“It doesn’t really matter, I suppose,” whoever is controlling FRIDAY responds, “I am one of the many people whose life you screwed up. My family is gone, because of you. I want you to have to feel that pain.”

Tony’s eyes flicker to Peter for a moment before turning back to the nearest camera, “I’ll give you anything you want, but just leave him out of this. Don’t hurt him.”

“I won’t be the one hurting him, I’ll leave that up to you.”

Then power shuts off.

“Peter, you need to run,” Tony’s strained voice says.

“What? No. I’m not leaving you, Mr. Stark. That’s crazy,” Peter protests.

Tony’s voice remains carefully in control, “Peter, I don’t know how, but I can feel something in my head, messing with me. It wants me to be violent. It wants me to hurt someone, and the nearest person for me to hurt, is you.”

Peter realizes, the metal in his neck. It isn’t debris, it’s a chip. Somehow it’s altering his brain chemistry to make him irate, which explains his outbursts since he woke up. If they can just find a way to remove it, the effects should stop.

Before he can tell Tony what he needs to do, his spider-sense flares. He has jumped on the ceiling before he had even processed the threat. _Tony_. Tony is the threat. Tony had just tried to _shoot him_ with a repulsor blast from wristwatch gauntlet.

“Mr. Stark?” Peter asks, hesitantly, once the initial shock has somewhat worn off.

The blank look in his mentor’s eyes tells him that Mr. Stark isn’t driving the controls at the moment. This man doesn’t remember the late-night lab sessions, followed by early morning binge-watching sessions. He doesn’t remember rescuing Peter from the lake, or helping him at the Ferry.

This man only knows anger.

Peter knows somewhere deep within that he can’t reason with this man, but he wouldn’t be Peter Parker if he didn’t at least try.

He leaps as he dodges another repulsor blast. He really wishes he had his web-shooters right now.

He flips as he lands behind Mr. Stark.

“Look, there is this thing in your neck that is controlling you and making you go completely insane,” Peter explains.

Tony whips around and punches him with his gauntleted fist.

_Ouch._

He doesn’t have time to think of a witty comeback before another fist comes down on him.

_That one hurt like a bitch, too._

The third fist, he catches. As he looks up at his mentor, he realizes he now has the full armor on.

If he wasn’t screwed before, he sure is now.

Now that Tony has the armor on, though, he isn’t as fragile. Peter can do some damage, he can fight back.

He twists his legs in the move that Black Widow taught him. With his legs around Tony’s head, he uses his thighs to flip Iron Man over. Peter quickly gets up and makes a break for the door.

He doesn’t look back, but he can hear the repulsors firing up. Tony had time to get over whatever shock must have registered at Peter besting him, and he is back up and coming for him. Peter doesn’t know where he’s going, but he keeps running. It would seem stupid to leave the compound, out in the open where he can’t hide or run. Iron Man can fly. If he wants to beat him, he needs to stay in small spaces.

An idea hits Peter just as a repulsor blast almost does. He dodges out of the way but is quick to get back up.

“Thought we were friends!” Peter calls over his shoulder.

“I have no friends,” Tony’s steely voice replies.

Peter decides not to retort and instead save his breath. He takes a sharp right turn into a narrow hallway. He’s claustrophobic, but he’ll just have to push that fear deep inside. He needs to help Tony, needs to save him.

He can feel Tony gaining on him, but he takes a sharp left into the dining room. He runs and leaps over the table, waiting on the other side.

Iron Man follows quickly into the room, but pauses.

Tony asks, “What are you doing?”

Peter shrugs his shoulders, “Why don’t you come over here and find out?”

“Whatever trap you’re planning won’t work.”

Peter really, really hopes it does.

Then, Iron Man charges.

Peter has to time it perfectly. As Tony closes in on him, he takes a couple of steps and jumps in the air to meet him. It all happens in slow motion.

He grabs Tony’s wrist, which is beginning to charge up to blast him. Then, he twists his wrist up, letting the shot miss him and hits the target. Peter pushes Tony down on the table as he pushes himself off of it.

He watches as the chandelier Tony hit comes crashing down on top of him. He only has time to cover his face before it comes down.

Thankfully, he was only cut by a few small pieces of glass. Peter stands up and sighs in relief. It worked, at least for a little bit. He is trapped under the chandelier.

“Giving up so soon? I’m embarrassed for you,” Peter quips.

He wants to help Tony, but he also doesn’t want to die.

Iron Man just lays there, like he’s dead. With that thought in his head, Peter rushes forward. It doesn’t matter if Tony still wants to kill him or not, he could not have killed Tony. He has to make sure Tony’s okay.

He rips off the Iron Man mask and throws it behind him.

“Tony?” Peter asks hesitantly.

Before he has a chance to worry more, Tony gasps awake. Peter quickly takes a few stumbling steps backwards and falls to the floor. He can’t run forever, he may die soon, but he can’t get his legs to take him anywhere.

“Pe- Peter, are you okay?” Tony’s rough voice asks.

“Are you?” Peter shoots back at him. When he doesn’t get a response, he says, “I’ll get you out of there.”

“Leave me here. I don’t want to hurt you once I’m up,” Tony’s voice shakes.

Now, Peter knows that it’s Tony. It’s really his Tony.

This is the Tony that remember all those lab and binge-watching sessions. He remembers making cookies with Peter, then making them again when they totally forgot to put flour in them.

Peter finds his way to his feet and says, “Glad to have you back.”

“How do you know it’s me, like really me? How do you know I’m not trying to trick you? Be smart about this, Peter,” Tony cautions.

Peter rolls his eyes, “When you were trying to hurt me, you only had violence on your mind. Now you are already looking out for me, classic Tony.”

“Did you just call me Tony?” Mr. Stark asks.

“I feel like I deserve it because you just tried to kill me.”

“Hmm, maybe so, now call someone to get this chandelier off of me, punk.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for the irondadsecretsanta. Be sure to check out all the other fics posted to this collection!


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